SAHM's--housework question

[unclejesse]

How much housework/chores do you get done during the day?
I have been doing a lot this morning, but I'm feeling guilty that A is just sitting by himself playing with cars and watching a movie. He keeps coming over to sit on my lap or pulling me to play when I'm in the middle of something. I feel guilt if I don't do the work that needs to be done around the house too!

[TrudyCampbell]

Lol.

I keep the kitchen clean. I put laundry away. I tidy up her toys when she's done. Sometimes if I'm feeling particularly awesome, I'll swiffer.

That's all, folks. My husband does a lot to help and we mostly clean on the weekends.

[bigapple]

I never got much done because C didn't nap much or watch TV, so I rarely had free time.

[dixeedeluxe]

hey, not a SAHM, but i'll be working from home twice a week, so can i contribute to this thread!

my plan is to keep up with laundry and dishes on days i'm home. i think that's a reasonable thing for someone being actually in the house to do.

[Deleted]

Laundry, bathroom cleaning, dishwasher and dishes, tidying the kitchen and picking up toys. I don't do all those things daily.

Vacuuming, mopping, dusting, heavy cleaning is all done of weekends with my husbands help.

[lolaburns]

I clean up the living room, my office and kitchen every day because clutter makes me anxious. Those rooms also get vacuumed at least once a day. I clean the bathrooms, dining room and bedrooms once a week. I mop all rooms once a week.

H does the laundry for now because I can't carry the basket up and down two flights of stairs all the time. He also does the dishes for the most part and put them away because I hate doing dishes.

[muppetinma]

I do dishes, laundry, and straightening up when Andrew's awake. I do things like the floors when he's napping or after he goes to bed at night. But, I'm a slavedriver and make Andrew help me with most of that. I expect him to put his dishes in the dishwasher, help me unload it, help me do laundry and put clothes away, and he has to pick up his toys. I mean, he's two. He does a horrible job with most of it, but he tries. And he's getting better and will continue to do so. In our house, chores are a family affair. Everybody needs to pull their weight. Yeah, it would be easier to do it all without him, but I want A to know that this is his job too.

Luckily, at this point, Andrew LOVES to help. Hopefully this trend will continue and chores will never seem like a burden to him.

[katfco]

Sometimes I get the dishwasher loaded before Caleb takes everything out of it.

For the most part, my goal is for the place not to look like a disaster at the end of the day and for dinner to be ready by the time DH gets home.

[lolaburns]

Also, I never feel guilty when I am doing another task while L plays by himself or watches TV.....

I figure if he were at day care they aren't sitting in the floor with him all day long.

[AndyCohen]

Lol. I have a housekeeper every two weeks. I scoop the litter and pick up Audrey's toys daily, do laundry when needed, and fill the dishwasher. That's about it.

[creamsiclechica]

Okay so take what I say with a grain of salt because I have issues. I clean things in the morning she can help with, like she twirls around and follows me while I vacuum, she helps pull things out so I can fold laundry. While C takes his first nap, she does craft time in the kitchen in the high chair while I prep dinner, wash dishes, wipe down the kitchen. I do stuff I can't do with either at double naptime, like wipe up the bathrooms, the floors that need swiffer ing/mopping, etc. We wake up, have lunch, then we go play outside at the park or something. I clean up dinner while Matt puts A down for bed and after I get C down. I deep clean on the weekends while Matt solely watches the kids or takes them out.

[Deleted]

Ha. Laundry and keeping the kitchen somewhat picked up are about all I can handle. I clean on weekends. H is supposed to do the bathrooms and I do everything else but he is slacking on his end this week. I do the grocery shopping and cooking and usually leave the dinner dishes for him to wash.

I'm working on teaching Max to pick up toys now. It's 50/50 on whether he does it or not. On the rare occasion the babies' naps overlap, that's me time. I can tidy while they're awake and clean when H is around.

[Deleted]

Apr 15, 2014 9:55:33 GMT -5 AndyCohen said:

Lol. I have a housekeeper every two weeks. I scoop the litter and pick up Audrey's toys daily, do laundry when needed, and fill the dishwasher. That's about it.

Oh, how I miss my cleaning service...budget cut to be in a new house. I forgot how much I hate cleaning.

[unclejesse]

Apr 15, 2014 9:51:09 GMT -5 muppetinma said:

I do dishes, laundry, and straightening up when Andrew's awake. I do things like the floors when he's napping or after he goes to bed at night. But, I'm a slavedriver and make Andrew help me with most of that. I expect him to put his dishes in the dishwasher, help me unload it, help me do laundry and put clothes away, and he has to pick up his toys. I mean, he's two. He does a horrible job with most of it, but he tries. And he's getting better and will continue to do so. In our house, chores are a family affair. Everybody needs to pull their weight. Yeah, it would be easier to do it all without him, but I want A to know that this is his job too.

Luckily, at this point, Andrew LOVES to help. Hopefully this trend will continue and chores will never seem like a burden to him.

I think this is a great point. I always have A help me pick up his toys and bring his plate to the kitchen. I praise him a lot for it. He actually will find a tissue or napkin or some random piece of crumb and say "uh oh, trash" and put it in the garbage all on his own. It's very important to me that he knows that doing chores is just another part of life.

[fusion]

Normally I keep the dishes running through (I HATE dirty dishes in the sink, so that never happens), laundry running through - although usually the clean stuff piles up and H and I fold and put away together, keep big messes contained and wiped up, vacuum up the big crud daily with a little kitchen vacuum, and clean up my messes from food preparation. We have a maid service come every other week for the big stuff, and H helps a TON when he is home. Jameson doesn't nap and entertaining two is a lot of work. The clutter gets to me, but our house is generally clean at least.

[creamsiclechica]

Yeah I let her have jobs too. She throws out all diapers after changes and then we high five, lol. She wipes surfaces with baby wipes when I use Clorox wipes or rags. She pushes a swiffer, picks up books and blocks. I've started to let her help feed the dogs.

I've also tried to be less uptight. If it's not perfect, it's fine. And I've taken some naps to watch tv or something sometimes.

[bridgilly]

Apr 15, 2014 9:55:33 GMT -5 AndyCohen said:

Lol. I have a housekeeper every two weeks. I scoop the litter and pick up Audrey's toys daily, do laundry when needed, and fill the dishwasher. That's about it.

This sounds about right. Except that I don't pick up Bridget's toys every day.

[Deleted]

Ada loves to help now too! She puts her dirty clothes in the hamper and helps with laundry. She throws away trash. She helps pick up her toys.

[muppetinma]

Apr 15, 2014 10:01:40 GMT -5 creamsiclechica said:

I've also tried to be less uptight. If it's not perfect, it's fine.

Exactly. Andrew is really good at some tasks and not so good at others. For instance, this is his bookshelf in the living room, after he cleaned up. Good enough for me. We'll keep working on it. But, his Little People are always impeccable. He knows where everything goes. He also never puts a puzzle away without all the pieces in place. He's got selective OCD, just like his mom.

[devonpow]

Every day I: make the bed (H makes his own...not well), vacuum, clean the kitchen after each meal, and do an all over straightening/putting away during nap and after the kids are in bed. Laundry I usually do in the evenings, and we have a cleaning lady every other week for deep cleans.

These days since our house is on the market I do a crazy clean every day during nap, as well (cleaning all bathrooms, etc)

[carawestt]

Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, put away toys, wipe down the kitchen after meals.And I'll clean the floors while he naps or else he walks all over where I just cleaned.

[alicia45]

Housework sucks. I hired a cleaning service last summer and by far, it's the greatest thing ever. That being said, I load the dishes while she's eating breakfast and tiny the kitchen. After breakfast, I load the laundry and then she helps put it in the dryer when it's done. I hang and fold the laundry while she's up and she helps me put it away. Daily pick up happens as part of bedtime routine. As a family, we pick up toys. The read of the clutter gets taken care of during the day as I walk past something and I put it away. The worst clutter spot is the kitchen, so I try to get it all away every other day.

I think it was @starbound who said that the cleaning fairy doesn't come while you're sleeping. It takes a lot to pick up and clean so I want A to see that and learn to help out. Plus, I'm lazy at naptime, I want my break too.

[Deleted]

Daily:
Kitchen is always clean
I run around about thirty minutes before bedtime/DH comes home (whichever comes first) and straighten up all toys and J's room.

I'm pretty proud of myself if I get anything more than that done. I do get the weeks worth of dinner prepped either Sunday or Tuesday (I work Mondays), and about every other week I make a big batch of freezer stuff I know J will eat. That just makes dinner SO much easier the nights I work since we don't get home until 715.

I do laundry as needed, but again due to DH's birthday stuff this weekend we are way behind.

There are some days I just need to get a lot done, like today. So J will be watching a bit more TV than usual. I don't feel too bad, because on work days and weekends he gets to do more crafty stuff and has more playtime/outdoor time with us.

Sometimes I put things off until the weekend simply so DH can either help or occupy J while I do it. Either way it doesn't bother me.

I need to get on the having J help bandwagon. I do just about everything because I want it done "right," but I need to let that go. I have been letting him help cook more, which in turn has encouraged him to try more foods.

Overall, I feel pretty lazy, TBH. I'm working on it, but not there yet. I also feel guilty if I spend the day out and about, because I know DH is stuck in an office, and I'm not. I WANT the house to be clean and tidy for him every day, it just doesn't happen.

[livinreality]

I do 15 mins before or after breakfast and start 1 load of laundry. At this time each son is suppose to do something to help the family... Good in theory not actually very productive.

I normally do another 15 mins during naptime and change laundry around if I have not already. But I do any serious cleaning after DH gets home.

They normally watch tv while I cook dinner so I try not to let them watch tv while I do other chores, I donot worry about 30-45 mins of tv and self entertainment it builds character.

Disclaimer - I keep my house clean enough, it is not sparkling but it is what DH and I are comfortable with

[mumegs]

I do dishes/clean kitchen, laundry and pick up after us, DH gets annoyed by toys everywhere but it is pointless to pick those up during the day bc she will have them out again 5 mins later.

[eav2c]

Laundry gets done and by done I mean sitting clean unfolded in baskets and occasionally I get dishes done. I do most things after bedtime. Once the boys can occupy each other I hope to do more during the day. I got so stressed about things I hired someone to come do a more thorough job with things like cleaning the bathrooms. I just cannot keep up.

[fusion]

On the random days that I work outside of the home for an extended period of time and leave the kids with H I will come home to what looks like a freaking bomb went off. It's annoys the crap out of me that he doesn't tidy or clean anything, but in turn he has NEVER complained about the state of the house when he gets home from work.

[biblionerd]

Uhhhhhh, clean?? I'm supposed to do that shit?